


Confusion

by Kazimir



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Emotional, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 12:05:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3691656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazimir/pseuds/Kazimir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vulpes is rather warm and cuddly in this, since the fact that he was always some crazy, sadistic rapist is every story I read bothered me. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Vulpes was confused. It was as simple as that.

He had never felt this way before, and he never expected to, especially towards someone like… you. You were nothing more than a profligate, a woman who didn’t know her place, someone bound to be killed as a result of their own stubbornness… But despite all of that he couldn’t stop thinking about you for reasons he either couldn’t, or refused, to understand since he first saw you in Nipton.

It was since before he even talked to you, it was when he first saw you that these feelings that a man like him couldn’t possibly possess began to boil within him. The moment he saw your face, slowly passing through the destroyed town, observing the carnage with an expression of surprise and confusion, but not fear. Even- no- especially the moment when you looked right through those tinted glasses he wore without the slightest bit of hesitance or distress in your passionate (E/C) eyes and told him exactly what you thought of what he did. It was then, when you looked at him and spoke to him like nobody but the mighty Caesar himself would, that he knew you were different. You weren’t scared of him, but you didn’t hate him either. But at the same time you didn’t respect him or even like him, he could tell that simply by the look in your eyes. It’s not like that part surprised him though, Vulpes could pretend to be friendly and charming, and he wasn’t painful to look at, but he was smart enough to know that he was in no way likeable unless he had some sort of mask over he who was. And he also knew that somebody like him could never be loved, not even by the most ignorant, foolish person in any of the small surviving groups of desperate people left in the destroyed wasteland of a world they now lived in. Vulpes was in no way lovable.

That fact had never bothered him before, but now was different somehow. He felt almost like, for once in his life, he wanted to have that genuine sort of charm that some people seem to have that draws people towards them and makes them easy to love. But he knew he couldn’t, that sort of thing isn’t just given to people, it’s something that’s always there. Just like his apparent coldness was always there, until now at least.

  
So there he was, the leader of the Frumentarii, the fourth strongest man in Caesar’s Legion, a loyal follower of the mighty Caesar himself, confused, bewildered and downright upset over something he didn’t even completely understand. Luckily though, nobody else seemed to notice the slump he was in or the strange emotions stirring within him, because Caesar would never have given him the opportunity to be in your presence for a second time. He jumped at the chance, of course, but he didn’t let his anticipation show as his job was explained to him. All he had to do was find you, give you the mark of Caesar and inform you that the leader of the Legion requested your company. It wouldn’t be hard, considering the name you’ve made yourself across the entire Mojave in such a short time. So off he went, to find the source of his frustrating confusion and mysterious 


	2. Chapter 2

Dammit! You almost had him! You convinced him to give you the key to the presidential suit, and you were sure you were going to finally get him, but that damn snake got away again! Sure, he had a head start, but maybe it was still possible that if you ran fast enough, you could catch him on his way out! I mean, there was nowhere else he could go but the exit of the casino, right? There was still a chance you could catch that bastard Benny!

After exiting the elevator you ran towards the exit, people staring at you in awe as you passed, wondering why someone would be running as fast as they possibly could out of The Tops. You pushed the door open with all your might and determination, making it slam loudly against the wall after you had run through the open doorway. You stopped for a second to look around. Where did he go? There’s no way he could be off of the strip that fast! He must be around here somewhere, maybe he was hiding… Whatever the case, you’ll find him! Here and now, you’ll-

Your erratic thoughts were interrupted by a strong hand grabbing your forearm. On instinct, and in the midst of your frustrated and confused frenzy you attempted with all your might pull your arm away from whoever grabbed you. To your surprise, your strong pull did nothing but cause you to stumble, as whoever was holding you didn’t budge at all, despite the fact that you put just about all of the energy and strength you had into it. Slightly calmed by the sudden shock you regained your footing before looking back to see just who or what could have that kind of strength.

“Who could possibly-“ Your question was cut off as you looked back to see a familiar face. “Oh,” you started, your anger almost completely gone now “It’s you…”

“Don’t worry about him, I already know where he’s going” Vulpes Inculta said calmly. By now you had millions of questions running through your mind. Why is here he? Has he been following you? How does he know where Benny’s going? Where _is_ Benny going? After a moment of thought you decided the first question would be a good start.

“Why are _you_ at the New Vegas Strip?” You asked. You couldn’t imagine why a legionary would be somewhere like this. Not to mention the fact he wasn’t even dressed like a legionary at the moment.  
“The eyes of the mighty Caesar are upon you.” Vulpes began in his usual cold and matter-of-fact tone. “He admires your accomplishments and bestows upon you the exceptional gift of his Mark.” He handed you a leather necklace with a round piece of metal with a bull engraved on it hanging off of it. Strange, you thought, you could have sworn his hand lingered on yours for a few seconds longer than it would have needed to while handing you the seemingly unimpressive item that he seemed to hold in high acclaim. You may have commented on this odd behaviour, if not for the numerous more pressing matters clouding your mind at that moment. You took a few moments to study the necklace in your hand. ‘Sure,’ you thought, ‘Caesar wants to see me, but what does this necklace have to do with that?’ Vulpes seemed to see the confusion in your face, so he continued his explanation.

“The great Caesar resides in Fortification Hill. Travel to Cottonwood Cove and talk to Cursor Lucullus, he will escort you there. This mark will guarantee your safety when travelling through Legion territory… As long as you don’t give us a reason to not want you safe, of course.” His facial expression remained neutral and cold throughout his speech to you, but at the very end you were sure that you saw some sort of gleam in his usually cold, flat blue eyes and that the tone in his voice slightly faltered from its usual seriousness. You looked at him and wondered whether he was taunting you or if it was just his way of playing around. You couldn’t imagine him being the type to joke around… but at the same time he didn’t have much of a reason to try to intimidate you at the moment. Before you could figure out the reason behind his unusual behaviour he simply turned around, began walking away and quietly stated

“ _ **Caesar awaits**_.”


	3. Chapter 3

Vulpes laid awake in his bed in the room of a small house that he, being the commander of an important part of the Legion like the Frumentarii, got the privilege of sharing with some of the Praetorian guards, well, at least the ones that weren’t tasked with protecting the sleeping Caesar every night. He stared up at the cracked and chipped ceiling. Usually at this time he, like everyone else, would be asleep, resting up for another long day of protecting Caesar, planning and in some cases killing profligates. But no, not him, not tonight. The only thing he seemed to be able to do since he walked away from you in front of The Tops a few days ago was think about you and what might happen next.

‘When will she come to meet Caesar?’ Was his first thought that night. He knew it would take a few days to travel such a long way, but he was concerned about whether you would even decide to come or not. For all he knew, he thought, you could have been wanting to work with the NCR. After all, he couldn’t help but notice the man with the red beret who was obviously either current or former NCR following you around like a dog. What if he convinced you join those profligates? What if he convinced you to do other things too?

‘No’ He thought. That wasn’t like you. You would never be swayed to do things like that, especially by some filthy NCR dog…

Of course, there were other things that could go wrong, even if you DID show up to meet Caesar. You could say something wrong, Caesar could just be in a particularly cruel mood, or you could even try to assassinate the leader he respected so much… No, there was no way, you were smarter than that, and you could see all the things wrong with the NCR, couldn’t you? Even if you couldn’t, you would never be foolish enough to try to assassinate the leader of the Legion, right?

Whatever the case, Vulpes knew that he had to sleep. The last thing he wanted was for you to show up at The Fort and for him to be on the verge of passing out, not to mention the fact that the Legion didn’t look kindly upon apparent laziness, regardless of the cause or reason.

So, despite his many worries and the fact that he couldn’t seem to get his mind to stop racing, Vulpes was finally able to drift asleep, though the thought of you never leaved his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

To say you were nervous would be a harsh understatement. Throughout your journey to find Benny you had mainly- if not almost exclusively- been in the company of either citizens or soldiers of the NCR or of people that supported them. This meant that you had hardly ever heard positive things about Caesar’s Legion. You had heard that they were nothing more than savages, whose interests were limited to slavery, rape and torture. But you knew that couldn’t be the whole truth. After all, you had only heard one side of the story, and the people who told that side were in no way unbiased towards the Legion.

Even though you knew it was unlikely that they were as bad as people said they were you couldn’t seem to get your anxiety to go away, nor could you get the thought of Nipton out of your mind. The bodies hanging on crosses, the fires, the lottery… You knew that these certainly weren’t going to be the friendliest people in the world. That didn’t matter though, there was no way you could pass up the opportunity of meeting Caesar himself, besides, it’s very possible that the two of you might have some shared ideas or goals.

Of course, even if you DID want to change your mind, that opportunity was long gone. While these thoughts were going through your mind you were already on a boat with a Cursor named Lucullus and heading towards The Fort. Talking with the tall man calmed your nerves a fair bit, just by listening and asking a few questions you had seemed to have learned a fair bit about Caesar, the Legion itself, and some of the ideas and opinions it held. The fact that where you were going and who you were going to speak to was no longer a total mystery to you made you trust that Vulpes Inculta’s claim that the mark of Caesar would ensure your safety within Legion territory wasn’t just a lie to lure an unexpected person into slavery or worse.

These small assurances made you sit back in your seat on the boat. After all, worrying for the next few hours of the boat ride wouldn’t do any good at all.


	5. Chapter 5

Vulpes was awakened by excited and unsure chatter coming from the Praetorian guards as they left their shared room to start their daily duties. For a second he was confused, the Praetorian guards were usually a quiet bunch, unfazed by nearly everything, what news was so big that it got THEM riled up like this?

After putting on his Legion armour Vulpes headed outside and saw Antony and his dogs. Even the mongrels seemed to be more jumpy than usual, they could probably sense how everybody else in the Fort was feeling, he thought.

"Antony?" He asked the slightly animalistic man. "What exactly is going on?"

"Oh," He started with his gruff voice "I thought you of all people would know... Caesar is having a visitor. A woman of all people. She's on her way with Cursor Lucullus right now, can you believe it?"

"I see. Vale." Stated Vulpes, ignoring the other mans question and walking away to gather his thoughts.

'So she finally decided to show up...' He said as he slowly walked towards the large tent to take his place at Caesars side. 'For someone courageous enough to chase somebody who shot them across the Mojave desert she sure took her time." His last observation sparked a question in his mind.

"Why?"

Why did you wait to come? Was it possible that you were afraid? For some reason he felt a small tug wanting to pull his mouth into a smile. The thought of someone like you afraid amused him. You had been shot in the head by somebody and you traveled a long way through a dangerous desert just to find him. Most people would have either hid or run away in fear with the hopes that whoever almost killed them would never find them again- but no, for some reason you seemed to have made it your life goal to hunt THEM down and, in a way, make the hunter the hunter... Such a strikingly beautiful goal...  
This thought once again brought Vulpes close to smiling, but not a cruel smile this time, this time it was a smile of... admiration. At least that's what he told himself. Though he didn't remember admiration feeling so... warm, almost.

Ignoring the strange feeling of warmth that felt almost as if it was traveling through his very blood he calmed the tugging at his lips before entering the tent and taking his place standing beside Caesar.  
He was very eager to see what you had to say.


	6. Chapter 6

You arrived at the Fort in the middle of the afternoon. It wasn’t by any means impressive; it was really just some tents and a large hill leading up to a much larger, enclosed tent and something that looked like it was some sort of arena. Your common sense told you that the large tent on the hill was obviously Caesar's, but you thought it might be best to look around and perhaps talk to a few people first. You walked up the hill towards the man standing near the entrance what may have been an arena.

“What do you want, woman?” He said with a scorn. Not exactly the friendly type, was he?

“Oh, well I was just wondering what exactly that is…” You said, motioning to the space fenced in by a circular wall made of various scrap metals. He scoffed before answering.

“What, have you never heard of an arena?” You looked at him expectantly. Understanding, he sighed before continuing his explanation. “A challenger can be put up against 1 or more opponents, who can be slaves or other willing Legionaries, in a fight to the death. Light armour and machetes are all that’s aloud.”

“Oh, I see. And what exactly do you do?” You asked, guessing that he obviously was in charge, but still wanting to make conversation.

“I set up the fights, keep track of prisoners available, and make sure the arena's cleaned up.” He said simply.

“In that case, when would I be allowed to fight in your arena?” You asked, thinking that it could be an interesting opportunity. Unexpectedly, the angry tone that you were greeting with quickly returned.

"Know your place, woman. Unlike the profligates of the NCR, only men fight in the Legion." Normally you probably would have argued, but you knew it probably wouldn’t have gotten you anywhere. You learned from Lucullus that one of the beliefs that the Legion seemed to hold close was that women were below men in basically every way possible, and that knowledge certainly didn't put you at ease in their company. Hopefully other Legionaries at Fortification Hill would hold that belief farther from their hearts than the man who's name you learned was Otho did, otherwise you might have ended up either leaving or being enslaved before you got the opportunity to talk to Caesar.

And with that you ended your conversation with the angry man in charge of the Legion's arena and decided to try to find someone else to talk to. After walking a short ways around the edge of the arena you saw a man with a mohawk standing beside a few dogs. Against your better instincts you walked over to the man and attempted to greet him. After barely voicing a syllable you were interrupted by his surprising strained and gruff voice.

"What?"

"Oh, I was just going to ask who you are..." You began, his animal-like tenseness seeming to rub off on you."

"Oh. My name is Antony, I'm-" He stopped in the middle of his statement after looking down at the companion at your side. "Where did you get that dog?"

"Oh, uh, Rex? Well, I guess you'd be surprised at the people and things you run into when you travel a lot... I found him in Freeside." You stated, knowing that specifically naming The Kings could create trouble for someone.

"I see... I ask because Caesar use to have a dog like that, it died in battle though. I believe we found it in Denver, that's where we get all of the dogs that I don't breed myself." And so you went on talking to Antony about his dogs, and your dog, and the Legion and "the mighty" Caesar for a fair amount of time before your nerves calmed slightly and you decided that keeping the Legion's leader waiting any longer wouldn't do you any good, so off you went, up the hill and towards the flap of the tent of Caesar.

After commanding Rex to stay outside at the request of a Praetorian guard you hesitated for a moment before entering the tent. You thought for a second about all the people here that you had spoken to. There was a man in control of an arena, a dog trainer, a blacksmith, a slave/doctor, a trader, even a drill-sergeant like man training young Legionary boys... you were sure that you had spoken to everyone that there was to speak to, and yet, you hadn't seen Vulpes Inculta. Was it possible that he was in the tent with Caesar? He was the head of the Frumentarii, an organization in the Legion that you had learned were basically scouts, messengers, spies and soldiers for Caesar, probably not a small title, so it would make sense that he would be standing alongside the leader and his guards, wouldn't it? For some reason you found yourself hoping that he would be there, after all, having a familiar face there during something so nerve-racking would probably be a comfort, despite the fact that you didn't know him well. With the strange hope of seeing a man who you first met in the middle of a destroyed city inside waiting for you inside you opened the flap of the tent and stepped in, convincing yourself that you'd be ready for whatever you were to see and whoever you were to meet.


End file.
